An Open Window
by Exira Young
Summary: Jack only asked for one thing when he became a Guardian.


**Hi! So this is my first 'Rise of the Guardians' fanfiction, so I'm hoping I won't disappoint anyone with the way I wrote it. This was a plot bunny that just attacked me from nowhere, so I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know how I did and if you want more chapters. I hope you ****enjoy! **

_Jack whooped as he flew through the sky, the wind whistling around him in answer to his cheers. It bounced him up and down in a joyful sort of dance that only the wind and its companion could perform and Jack was elated it was he who was lucky enough to perform it. _

_He had just finished giving snow to four countries and played with the Burgess kids, showing them how to have an epic snowball fight and make snow-angels the right way. Now he was headed to the North Pole for the monthly Guardian meeting that North and Tooth insisted they have, if only to make sure everyone was progressing in their duties. Honestly, Jack didn't care much for their reasoning as long as he got to see them all again. _

_So Jack flew and cheered with the wind, eager to see his family again and tell them all the cool things his believers had shared with him and annoy Bunny. He wanted to ask North if he could help make prototypes with his ice and see Baby Tooth. He wanted to see what new dreams Sandy had found and maybe make a few new ones of his own. _

_Jack thought about all of this as he flew and soon, he was approaching North's workshop. He smiled a bright, true smile- the kind Tooth and her fairies always squealed over- and approached the window leading to the globe room where he would meet with the others until they decided to head to the library to start their meeting. Eventually they would all end up in the kitchen where they would eat the cookies and hot chocolate that the yetis and elves made and then they would all straggle away to some other part of the workshop where they could take quietly about anything and everything that wasn't related to their duties and just relax. Then, Sandy and Tooth would leave to do their jobs and Bunny would head back to his Warren to continue painting or get some sleep and Jack would be faced with the decision of either staying with North or sleeping somewhere outside. _

_His smile faded into a small fond grin as he came to the decision that tonight he would be staying in the room North had made for him. What harm could it do? He was a bit tired of sleeping on branches and in snowbanks. A bed would be a nice and welcome change. _

_And so, with that decided, Jack reached the window. His smile faded, however, when he realized that the window was closed and the globe room was dimmer than usual. He could see shapes moving around in the room, but the window was so fogged up he couldn't figure out who they were. He moved his hand to open the window, figuring they had simply forgotten that he always used this one or that Bunny simply got too cold, but as he pushed against it, he realized it was locked. Becoming frantic, he shook the window harder, hoping to loosen the lock and when that didn't work, he began banging on the window. Nobody answered. _

_Breathing heavily, Jack rushed from window to window, only to find that each window was the same. Not a single one was open or unlocked. _

_Letting out a choked sob, Jack dropped to the globe room window and knocked twice, softly, in hopes that this was all one big misunderstanding. He prayed and prayed he was wrong but when he got no answer, he let his tears fall and he slumped against the window, sobs shaking his small frame. _

"_North? Bunny? Please...let me in!" he cried and the figures inside stopped moving. Then there was a scoff and a round of heavy laughter that made a pool of dread collect in Jack's stomach. _

"_Let you in? Now why would we do that, Jack?" Bunny asked and Jack felt a pang of ice shoot into his heart. North laughed in response and slowly walked to where Jack sat outside the window. _

"_We won't let you in. We don't want you anymore, Jack. Go away. Disappear for next 300 years. We don't care," he whispered and another sob ripped itself from Jack's mouth before he was up in the air and rushing away from the hurtful words and locked windows. He cried and sobbed for his loss and the loneliness he knew was coming. He flew to the South Pole where he collapsed and cried until he was an empty shell and then…_

_Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter, disappeared from the cruel world that wanted nothing to do with him. _

Jack awoke with a startled noise that was half between a sob and a gasp, causing him to fall off of the branch he had fallen asleep on. The dream raced through his head over and over, the cruel words of North and Bunny dancing through his thoughts. He took a strangled deep breath before he grabbed his staff and lifted himself into the air on the back of the wind, who quickly reassured him that he was okay. Jack gave a wobbly smile before he softly told the wind to head to the North Pole.

He was brought there slowly so he was given a chance to think about his dream and calm himself down.

"It was only a dream. Of course they still want you," Jack reassured himself but he couldn't stop the small hiccup that accompanied those words.

The wind picked up speed, realizing that its rider needed comfort from his new friends. It didn't take long for them to reach the North Pole and Jack, feeling only slightly better, headed toward the window that lead to the globe room, the window that caused him so much pain in his dream, and found it shut. Beginning to hyperventilate, he muttered a few no's under his breath and tried to pull the window open. It was locked.

Sobs, real sobs, ripped from his mouth unheeded and anguished cries joined their sorrow. Knowing what came next and not wanting to hear the words again, Jack spun and jumped onto the wind, letting it quickly and gently carry him away from the North Pole, one small memory replaying over and over in his head.

"_**Well, Jack, you're a Guardian now! You get to ask us all for one gift!" Tooth cried, eagerly fluttering around Jack's head. He laughed and thought for a moment before he realized exactly what he wanted. **_

"_**I only want one thing from all of you. Keep your windows open for as long as you still want me, but shut and lock them when you don't," Jack said and the others exchanged looks. It wasn't what they were expecting and it sent painful jolts into all of their hearts, but they knew it was one of the only ways to assure him that they loved him, even if it didn't always seem like it. So with crying hearts, they all assured him that they would do exactly that. **_

_**Jack let the Pole that day with a lighter heart and the hopeful dream that he would never find the windows closed and locked to keep him away. **_


End file.
